last song
by abbyli
Summary: He is the last to step through. The nurse smiles at him and asks his name. He opens his mouth to answer and he finds the words can't come out. And then..."Greene," he whispers. "Daryl Greene."


**entitled: **last song

**summary: **He is the last one to pass through. The nurse asks him his name and he begins to speak but finds the words can't come out. And then..."Greene," he whispers. "Daryl Greene."

**pairing: **beth/daryl, some daryl and maggie friendship

**rating: **t

**disclaimer: **I do not own The walking dead or it's characters.

**notes: **So yes, the idea came to me after rewatching Titanic the other night. The very end scene when Rose comes aboard and they ask her her name, she says 'Rose Dawson'. She took Jack's last name. Anyway, read on this short little blurb, you beautiful people.

.

.

.

A new sanctuary for a short amount of time.

A free clinic of all places.

He barely remembers Rick explaining to the group that this was the only safe place for many miles before they continued their trip to DC. They needed food, rest, and just a couple days to heal from the horrors of the last month.

Yeah, right.

He goes on the run with Rick and Tyreese, examining this clinic from all corners with the human eye despite their protests. He needs to do something, to feel useful. Or he will lose what is left of his mind.

The clinic welcomes them. They are brought in one by one through the front doors, giving their names to the nurse by the desk.

"Rick Grimes..."

"Maggie Rhee..."

"Glenn Rhee..."

"Tyreese Williams..."

He is the last to pass through after a trembling Noah. For some reason, every since that haunting day, the kid had stuck to him like glue. And the only reason why he hadn't told him to go jump off a cliff because he was here and Beth wasn't - he was here when Beth was supposed to be - was because Beth had cared for the kid.

So he would make nice. He would.

At least he would try.

The nurse waits patiently with her clipboard, her brown eyes gazing up at him.

"Your name, sir?" she asks.

He blinks at her, not registering the words.

And then -

He begins to speak but he finds the words cannot come out.

"Dix-Greene," he finally says, earning him twin wide eyed stares from Rick and Maggie alike. "Daryl Greene."

The nurse smiles at him, jotting the name down on the clipboard before waving him on.

He walks right by the others, heading for the nearest back exit, in desperate need of a smoke right now.

* * *

><p>Rain is pouring down.<p>

He stands right near the door, taking the occasional draw of the cigarette that had long gone stale.

He flicks ash from the end, tapping the edge against the step railing.

_Ya know, those things'll kill ya. But what the hell, we're already dyin'. _

Daryl shakes his head softly, the whisper of a smile creasing his lips up just a bit.

_Why don't ya smile more? Even a tiny one's pretty. _

She had thought his smiles were nice, no matter how rare they were.

Even on the run, she had always managed a smile at least once a day. She would find beauty in the strangest kinds of things. A small red bug crawling on a green leaf, the sound of a damn finch screeching it's head off early in the mornin'. God, she even found beauty in those damn walker bodies being prepared for burial.

She made him see.

Really and truly see.

"Daryl?"

Maggie's voice is tinlike, hollow and broken. Even after all the bullshit that the older Greene gal had gone through, she would still hold on but now - now there was nothing left.

He barely inclines his head to show that he was listening. But he won't look at her. He can't.

Because all he will see is the girl that he had lost.

Maggie holds out her hand and he places the stub of ciggerate in between her fingers. She takes a long drag, exhaling the smoke through her nose before she hands it back.

"She loved you, ya know."

Those words, those five little words, make his heart stutter to a stop for just a moment.

Maggie sighs softly, breathing out in such a way like this is the first breath she has caught in a while.

"She loved everybody," Maggie says, brushing a hand through her messy hair. "But you? She had a special place in her heart for ya. I dunno why until now."

With the same hand, Maggie reaches down, taking his free hand. She opens his fingers lightly, dropping something into his palm.

He knows what it is before he even looks. He recognizes the feel of the small cool object, the shape and the touch.

Uncurling his fingers, he gazes down at the small heartshaped pendant that Beth had worn nearly everyday since the very first moment he had laid eyes on her. When the chain had busted during a fight, she had looped a leather cord through the hole and continued to wear it.

"Howdja get this?" he says, breathing out a shaky breath.

"I found it on the ground," Maggie says, her voice crackling with emotion. "After ya took her...away."

Maggie doesn't say anything else. No more words are needed.

The heat from her hand on his elbow is almost comforting. Her fingernails dig in lightly before she pulls away, coughing to cover up something that sounded suspiciously like a sob.

He hears her go back into the clinic, his eyes still trained on the pendant resting in his palm.

_Why do ya wear that old thin'? _

_Because it reminds me that I'm still me. It's my heart. _

He had laughed at her then but now he understood.

Miraculously enough, the cord that Beth had strung through it was still there, torn and frayed. His fingers tremble as he reties the knot and loops it over his head.

The chilled silver rests against his heart just right.

* * *

><p>Rick is the only one to notice the necklace. He doesn't say a word.<p>

And Daryl appreciates it. But he knows Rick understands. He understands more than anyone.

He continues to call himself Daryl Greene. He sheds Dixon almost completely but he still holds the name in his mind because - well, because he would always have it, no matter how hard he tried to rid it from himself.

He's almost thankful Beth never did see his scars. But then again, he knows that she felt them. Holding him in her arms like she had, her face pressed right between his shoulder blades, he knew she knew. A part of her knew.

And that's why he bought the damn book. That's why he remembered her words, asking him to hold on.

He would hold on. He wouldn't give up.

_Never give up, Mr. Dixon. Even when I'm gone, ya can't give up. _

_Don't worry, Greene. I won't._

_**.**_

_**.**_

* * *

><p><strong>I don't even really know what this is. <strong>

**I have a theory - Rick faked Beth's death. **

**I believe that he faked her death for some reason that we don't know yet. And the reasons why were just because of his reaction to her being killed. He was just too calm. Yes, he drew his gun when she was shot but there was something about his reaction that didn't make sense. When Lori died, he went on a zombie killing rampage, when Carl was remotely threatened he gutted the guy who was threatening him. When Hershel died, he immediately began shooting. **

**Rick is not of the soundest mind, remember? And it was obvious that he adored Beth. God, when he and Daryl and T-Dog discovered Merle's hand on the roof and Daryl was going to kill T-Dog, he pulled a gun on Daryl. He doesn't even blink. He shouldn't even have blinked when Beth died. Honestly, I thought he would have been the one to put the bullet in Dawn's head. **

**I think that Rick was actually working with the one cop, Shepherd. Because you guys are right, Dawn's gun was underneath Beth's chin and the bullet hole was in her forehead. Maybe that wasn't just a make up mistake. Maybe that was actually perhaps a small buckshot that Shepherd had, grazing the top of her head. And her death just didn't seem final. All the other deaths were final. Lori's, Andrea's, T-Dog's, Hersel's - all of them, you knew that that was it. Beth's - Beth's doesn't. **

**And maybe I am just blowing smoke here. I dunno. **

**Reviews? **


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